Highland Council Tax Debt Help

Struggling With Highland Council Tax?

The Highland Council covers a vast area, around a third of Scotland’s landmass, from Inverness and Nairn across to Fort William and Skye, and north through Dingwall and Aviemore to Wick and Thurso. It is the largest council in the United Kingdom by area, and distance and remoteness can make dealing with a council tax problem feel harder than it is. Wherever you live in the Highlands, the way council tax is billed and collected is the same, and if you have fallen behind, there are clear ways out. This page explains how The Highland Council operates, who it uses to recover arrears, and how to get a debt back under control before it reaches a wage arrestment.

How we can help:

• We deal with the council and its sheriff officers for you
• We help you agree a realistic, affordable payment plan
• We set out every debt solution open to Highland residents
• We can help stop or avoid a wage arrestment
• Free, confidential help – with no obligation

Watch: how council tax recovery and sheriff action works in Scotland, and how to stop it.

About The Highland Council

The Highland Council, or Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd, is the local authority for the Highlands, and is the largest council in the United Kingdom by land area, covering roughly a third of Scotland. It serves around 237,000 people, spread thinly across some of the most remote communities in the country, which gives it the lowest population density of any Scottish council. Inverness is the region’s only city and its main hub, with other towns including Fort William, Wick, Thurso, Nairn, Dingwall, Aviemore, Ullapool and Portree on the Isle of Skye.

Council tax and business rates are billed and collected by the council’s revenues service, which also handles discounts, Council Tax Reduction and the recovery of arrears. The valuation band on your home is set by the Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board, not by the council itself. The council’s headquarters is the Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX.

Highland council tax contact details

These are the council’s main contact points for council tax. If you are worried about paying, the council runs a dedicated recovery team and a welfare support team, and it is far better to make contact early than to wait for a reminder.

You can pay by Direct Debit over 10 or 12 monthly instalments (or weekly), online by card, or by phone. If ringing the council yourself feels difficult, we can speak to the recovery team for you and help set up an arrangement.

Council tax in the Highlands

Council tax is an annual charge on domestic property, set each year by The Highland Council. What you pay depends on the valuation band of your home, which reflects its value on 1 April 1991 and is set by the Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board, not by the council. Your bill also includes separate water and wastewater charges, which the council collects on behalf of Scottish Water.

Bills are issued in spring for the year that begins on 1 April, and are usually spread across 10 monthly instalments. If you want to understand the wider system, who is liable and how billing works, see our guides to council tax in Scotland, council tax liability and billing and collection.

Highland council tax bands and charges 2026-27

For 2026-27, The Highland Council increased council tax by 7%. The table below shows the charge for each band, with the water and wastewater charges collected for Scottish Water included in the total. Band D is the standard reference band.

The council tax column is the Highland charge on its own, and the right-hand column adds the standard Scottish Water charges to give the full bill. If you live alone, a 25% single person discount applies to the council tax part. If you think your home is in the wrong band, you can check it on the Scottish Assessors website and, in limited circumstances, ask for a review, though a review can move a band up as well as down. Our council tax valuation guide explains how bands and challenges work.

Reductions, discounts and second homes

Making sure your bill is as low as it should be is the first step if money is tight. The Highland Council offers a range of reductions, and claiming the right one can cut what you owe and make catching up far easier.

• Council Tax Reduction (CTR): a means-tested reduction of up to 100% for people on a low income, usually with savings under £16,000. You apply through the council, and the reduction is credited straight to your council tax account. CTR reduces the council tax element only, not the water and wastewater charges, which have their own separate reduction.
• Single person discount (25%): if you are the only adult in the property, you can claim a 25% reduction.
• Disabled band reduction: if a resident needs an extra room, an additional bathroom or space to use a wheelchair indoors because of a disability, the bill can be charged one band lower. See our disabled band reduction guide.
• Other discounts and exemptions: students, apprentices, carers and people with a severe mental impairment can be disregarded, and some properties are exempt. Our council tax discounts guide explains who qualifies.

The Highlands have a very high number of second and holiday homes, particularly on Skye, in Badenoch and Strathspey around Aviemore, and in Lochaber, and the council has taken a strong line here. For the 2026-27 year, the council tax charge on a second home is 300% of the standard rate, in other words three times the normal bill, and the council has signalled that this may rise further in future years. Long-term empty homes also carry a premium once a property has been empty for more than 12 months. This applies to second and empty homes, not to the home you live in, but if you are being charged a premium you do not think applies, raise it with the council straight away.

Business rates in the Highlands

Business rates, or non-domestic rates, are the commercial equivalent of council tax and are billed by The Highland Council. The rate itself, the poundage, is set nationally by the Scottish Government and is the same across the country. Your bill is the rateable value of your premises, set by the Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board, multiplied by the poundage.

For 2026-27 the Scottish Government set three rates:

Many smaller Highland businesses pay little or nothing through the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which can give 100% relief on a single property with a rateable value up to £12,000, with tapered relief up to £20,000. Other reliefs, including charity, empty property and Fresh Start relief, may also apply. Business rates enquiries go to 01463 702984 or nondomesticrates@highland.gov.uk. Businesses in some town centres, including Inverness, Nairn, Fort William and Dornoch, also fall within a Business Improvement District and pay a separate BID levy, which is billed alongside rates.

If a business falls behind, non-domestic rates are recovered in the same way as council tax, through a summary warrant that adds a 10% surcharge and enforcement by Scott & Co. If your business is behind on its rates, the same early action and the same support apply.

Which sheriff officers does The Highland Council use?

When council tax or business rates go unpaid and a summary warrant has been granted, The Highland Council passes the account to sheriff officers to collect. Sheriff officers are officers of the court, not private bailiffs, and their powers are set by Scottish law.

The Highland Council names its sheriff officers on its own website as Scott & Co, the largest sheriff officer firm in Scotland. Scott & Co recover council tax, business rates and other debts for the council once a summary warrant is in place. Because the Highlands are so large, Scott & Co act across the whole region, from Inverness and Nairn to Skye, Lochaber and Caithness.

If Scott & Co have contacted you about a Highland debt, our dedicated Scott & Co guide sets out exactly who they are, the enforcement they can use, the fees they can add and how to stop them. You can also see every firm that acts for Scottish councils on our sheriff officers and council tax hub.

What happens if you fall behind with The Highland Council

Highland follows the standard Scottish recovery process and sets out clear stages on its own website. Knowing them helps you see where you are and how much room you still have to act.

1. Reminder and final notice. Miss an instalment and the council issues a combined reminder and final notice within 7 days, giving you 7 days to pay.
2. Loss of the right to pay by instalments. If you do not pay within 7 days, you lose the right to pay monthly and the whole year’s balance becomes due within a further 14 days.
3. Only two reminders a year. The council issues just two combined reminder notices in a financial year. If you miss a third instalment, it moves straight to a final notice for the full year’s arrears.
4. Summary warrant. The council is legally obliged to apply to the sheriff court for a summary warrant, which is granted without a hearing and adds a statutory 10% surcharge to what you owe.
5. Sheriff officer enforcement. The account is passed to Scott & Co, who can pursue a wage (earnings) arrestment, a bank arrestment, or an attachment, or agree a payment arrangement.

Because the 10% surcharge and the sheriff officer fees are fixed by law, acting early is what keeps the cost down. You can offer payment at any stage, even after a summary warrant, and the council’s recovery team on 01463 702980 would rather hear from you before things reach that point. Our billing and collection guide covers the process in more depth.

What to do if The Highland Council contacts you about arrears

Whether the letter comes from the council or from Scott & Co, the sensible steps are the same.

1. Open it and act. Council tax arrears do not go away, and ignoring letters only moves the debt further along the recovery process.
2. Check it is right. Make sure the debt is yours, for the correct property and year, and that any discount, exemption or Council Tax Reduction you are due has been applied.
3. Ask for identification. A genuine sheriff officer carries a formal identity document, and you are entitled to see it before you deal with them.
4. Do not overcommit. Only agree to what you can genuinely afford, because a broken arrangement usually leads straight to a wage arrestment.
5. Get advice and set up a plan. A realistic arrangement, the Debt Arrangement Scheme or another solution is what actually stops enforcement.

If dealing with the council or Scott & Co feels overwhelming, we can take it on for you with your permission and help you reach something affordable.

Solutions if you are struggling with Highland council tax debt

The most effective way to deal with sheriff officers is to resolve the arrears behind the enforcement. Depending on your circumstances, the main routes for Highland residents are:

Not sure which fits your situation? See our wage arrestment solutions overview, or get in touch and we will talk it through, free and with no obligation.

Free debt advice in the Highlands

Alongside our service, the Highlands have a strong network of free advice, including the council’s own team. You never need to pay for good council tax debt advice.

• Highland Council Welfare Support Team: the council’s own free money, benefits and welfare advice service, on 0800 090 1004 or welfare.support@highland.gov.uk.
• Citizens Advice Bureaux across the Highlands: independent bureaux serve Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, Lochaber (Fort William), Caithness (Wick and Thurso), Skye and Lochalsh (Portree), Ross and Cromarty (Dingwall), Nairn and Sutherland.
• Citizens Advice Scotland helpline: free advice on 0800 028 1456.
• StepChange Debt Charity: free national debt advice, on 0800 138 1111.

These services are independent and free. We work alongside this kind of support and can help you take the practical steps that stop enforcement.

The Highland Council at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Where to find free, impartial information

As well as speaking to us, you can check your rights with these independent, official sources:

• The Highland Council – Council Tax
• mygov.scot – Council Tax (Scottish Government)
• mygov.scot – Sheriff officer powers and your rights
• Citizens Advice Scotland – Debt and money
• mygov.scot – Non-domestic rates guidance

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